Living Off-Campus – Moving On, Moving Out, Growing Up

By Michelle Perez, Center for Student Involvement & Leadership
Re-run from the Spring 2007 Parents & Family Magazine

Upon arrival to on-campus living, students begin their transition from dependence to independence. Some more than others spend those first years on campus pulling and tearing to exercise their independence. This process may have been painful for both you and your student. So what will it be like when they take that next step...off-campus living?

You will be pleased to know that the transition is from independence to interdependence. Not unlike that relationship you developed while teaching them to ride a bicycle, as they move off-campus, you become a “new” resource full of knowledge and experience. Below are tips that you can use to insure their transition to interdependence (instead of reverting back to dependence) is successful:

• To commute or not to commute: Choosing to live off-campus is a big decision and has its allure as well as its challenges to prepare for. The UA Housing Guide is a great resource to assist with this first step. Use the Housing Guide to help them identify the reasons they would like to move off-campus. Once they’ve identified why they would like to commute, help them to figure out how. They must be prepared to deal with:
  • Cooking
  • Cleaning
  • Budgeting
  • Utilities
  • Staying connected to campus
  • Transportation
  • Landlords
  • Leases
  • Reliability of roommate’s payments
  • Safety
• Locate an Apartment: Tucson offers various resources, like local newspaper classifieds or postings in local establishments. Resources that may assist your student most with this process is our Off-Campus On-line, Housing Fair, and Apartment Rush. Our Off-Campus On-line service is a real-time posting of local homes and apartments that are available specifically to students and may also assist your student in finding a roommate.
• Legal Services: Signing a lease and working with a property owner can be an overwhelming experience, however, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona (ASUA/student government) provides legal services and is available to review leases, mediate landlord/tenant conflicts, and help with roommate disagreements.
• Safety & Security: This is an area that your student must not take for granted. Living in a “college town” may reduce your students’ vigilance in maintaining a safer environment for themselves. Their first line of defense is themselves. Help them to devise ways to secure their belongings, lock their homes, vehicles, and develop habits that reinforce their safety.

Remember you and your student are not alone. Our office can provide you with these and many more resources that will assist your student while they search for off-campus living and after they have officially become commuters. Check out our Web site at www.union.arizona.edu/offcampus or call us at (520) 621-5859.

Michelle Perez can be contact via email at mpl@email.arizona.edu